Tru64 5.1a Unix 'tail' command question

From: Noboom2@aol.com
Date: Sat Nov 09 2002 - 10:41:32 EST


I'm running Tru64 5.1a with patch kit 3, using the 'tail' command
to look at a range of lines in a file. I'm getting the error message
"tail: too much!" with a relatively small number specified on the
command line.

# wc -l m.l
    1511923 m.l
# /bin/tail -499000 m.l
tail: too much!
# /bin/tail -490000 m.l
Nov 6 18:40:52 htzpot server1[573622]: exited with EXIT_SUCCESS return
code, transaction processed in 00:00:00.0031.
Nov 6 18:40:52 htzpot server1[572187]: template updated successfully; 4
users notified of the modification via ptx-mail.
...

Why would such an error come up with the 'tail' command?

I went back and copied a 'tail' command from a Tru64 4.0g box, and it
successfully tails the file regardless of the number given on the command
line. Is this a known bug??

Thanks in advance for assistance. Obviously, this is not a major problem or
anything, but I would have thought the newer version of the OS would have
improved things, not throw a monkey wrench into things.



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